


Weave Together

by Sonderling



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Ben Solo - Freeform, Ben Solo Deserved Better, Canon Universe, Complete, F/M, First Kiss, Flirting, Hair, Hair Braiding, I'm Bad At Tagging, One Shot, Post-Canon Fix-It, Post-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Redeemed Ben Solo, Rey - Freeform, Rey Nobody, Reylo - Freeform, Soft Ben Solo, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Fix-It, hair based flirting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:08:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22102345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sonderling/pseuds/Sonderling
Summary: I can't stop writing really soft fix-it fics.  I love the beginnings of a relationship when two people are just starting to figure out what they mean to each other.  Its phase that doesn't last very long at all.  That's what I wanted to explore for Rey and Ben.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo
Comments: 6
Kudos: 119





	Weave Together

Four nearly wordless days had passed since, well, everything. 

Rey had tried and tried to wrap her head around the events of that fateful, frantic day. She had nearly lost her friends, was sure she had lost Ben. They had both lost Leia. The thought that Leia wasn't out there somewhere, waiting for her to come back caused a painful lump to catch in her throat. Rey and Ben had operated the Falcon in amicable silence. It wasn't that they didn't want to talk to each other, or had nothing to say, rather it was quite the opposite. There was so very much to say, and neither Ben or Rey knew where to begin. There was something bruised about both of them and in the face of red-rimmed eyes and heavy sighs, the two shipmates defaulted to over-politeness. 

The Falcon, true to form, couldn't go a full week without needing service and although Rey was a formidable mechanic, she was not a magician. Ben suggested that if they were going to have to wait for parts to arrive, they might as well do it in style. Normally Rey would have protested spending extra credits on creature comforts like running water and proximity to a nicer class of market, but she recognized the gesture for what it was. Ben Solo was coming out of his shell, just a little. 

The old Correllian freighter, now classified as an antique to Ben's chagrin, landed in a far bay, nearer to the park than the market. Rey was making an inventory of everything she would need to order in the morning when Ben strode up the ramp. He was gnawing on some exotic fruit and had a few paper-wrapped parcels under his arm. Rey looked at him with an eyebrow quirked. She was so reluctant to speak and break their amiable silence and Ben was usually pretty good at reading her expressions. 

"I decided to scope out the market, you know since you're busy taking care of the ship. . ." said Ben, sliding a parcel across the table until it bumped into Rey's holopad. 

"Oh?"

"Yeah." Another noisy crunch of fruit. "All save. No First Order operatives, present company excluded."

Rey's fingers stopped tapping at her pad. It was as though her train of thought had dropped out of hyperspace. Was Ben Solo, who hadn't spoken more than a handful of words in over a week telling a joke? Rey's mouth hung open and her eyes darted to Ben's ears, which were turning red. A giggle started at the back of her throat before bending over, laughing. It was Ben's turn to look confused. 

"I didn't think it was that funny, but alright."

Rey regained her composure, she didn't want Ben to get the wrong idea. This new ground they were treading had her very skittish. 

"No, you just surprised me. I wasn't expecting to hear jokes from you, let alone jokes about the first order. Some would say that's in rather bad taste."

Ben took another bite of fruit, nearly finishing it off. He stared down at the table and picked the paint as he chewed, looking up at Rey after he swallowed the obviously too big bite.

"Yeah, that was always dad's style." This time the silence between them was very uncomfortable and Rey reached for the package he'd pushed towards her, fiddling with the string. Inside were two of the same fruits that Ben was snacking on. 

"It used to drive mom crazy. He could be such a pessimist, but he could always make a joke afterward, you know?" This time Rey had a big bite of fruit in her mouth. She couldn't help herself, it was so delicious. Forgetting what few manners she had, she attempted to talk with her mouth full. 

"I know.". A little juice ran down her chin and she quickly dragged her arm across her jaw.

Ben stood up and started to walk away. He stopped and turned, seemingly as an afterthought and said, "I got you a few different kinds of fruit, I wasn't sure what you would like, but somehow I don't think that will be a problem.". He smiled at Rey, but his smile failed to reach his eyes. 

When Rey looked up from her finalized list it was dark outside. She had been vaguely aware of Ben's coming and going. For someone so large, he could move with the silence of a prowling lothcat. The bounty of fruit had been more than enough for a meal by Rey's estimation so she decided to forgo dinner. Standing up, she stretched and realized suddenly that she was quite tired. Her eyes felt gritty after staring at a screen for too long. That's when she remembered. The Falcon was docked in a port most people used for pleasurable travel, not the ducking for cover she was used to. That meant she had unlimited running water. She could take a shower that lasted all night if she wanted to. Rey felt practically giddy at the thought. First all those tasty fruits and now a nice long shower. Stopping by her berth she grabbed a fresh, loose-fitting tunic and baggy pants. It was as close to bedclothes as Rey had ever gotten. She refused to spend credits on clothes she would only wear while unconscious and she remained blissfully unaware of the fact that people spent a great number of credits on very flimsy bedclothes. Few things in the galaxy were more foreign to Rey than lingerie. 

When she stepped into the cramped but efficient 'fresher, she could tell she wasn't the first to luxuriate. The air was muggy and the tiny mirror was all fogged up. Rey did a double-take when she saw someone had drawn a cheeky little face on the glass, sticking its tongue out at her. Luckily, they had a whole planet's worth of hot water at their disposal, so she wasn't going to be suddenly frozen to death while still lathered in soap. Reaching into the shower stall, Rey turned the water Al the way to hot, even before she undressed. She reveled in the feeling of the hot steam rising up around her, frizzing her hair beyond recognition. She quickly shimmied out of her clothes, arm wraps, breastband, and drawers and stepped gingerly into the slick shower stall. It was only just big enough for her to turn around in. Her mind wandered away from her and conjured up what it must look like when Ben showered. His mop of black hair sticking out of the top of the stall, surely he would have to bend down to wash properly. As for the rest of him, there must have been an elbow sticking out dripping on the floor. Or a knee or thigh or. . . Rey had to shake her head to keep from imagining further. She looked down at the sliver of soap in her hand. She had squeezed it so tightly it bore indentations from her fingers. This wouldn't do at all. She and Ben were just now figuring out how to talk to each other again, and here she was entertaining fantasies that were frankly embarrassing. She made up her mind that Ben needed to figure himself out on his own terms, without her mucking everything up with silly romantic expectations. Just to be safe, Rey ran the water ice cold for a few seconds before getting out of the shower. Only she didn't realize just how cold water could be and what came out of the nozzle hit her like a runaway torpedo. She gulped for air and jumped out of the shower so fast she slipped and hit her shins on the under sink storage cabinet. All the better to keep her imagination from wandering off again, she thought to herself. 

She dried off as best she could with a much too small towel, but Ben had gone and used the only full-sized one on board. Rey had press her fingers against her eyes when she realized that. Perhaps Chewie had an even bigger towel that she could use stashed away somewhere. Rey was attempting to dry her hair with the sodden handtowel when she entered into the crew quarters. Ben looked up from where he was sitting on the bunk to the left of the door.

"Oh! I didn't realize you were in here," said Rey. Having spent so much time alone, it didn't take long for her to revert to her normal way of doing things.

"That's alright, you belong here just as much as I do. More so, really, you're the one keeping this ship space-worthy." Said Ben, his face was open and honest. He glanced at her hair, dripping water into her tunic.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you wanted to shower as well, I wouldn't have taken the bigger towel."

Rey's brain jumped in. We could have shared a shower, not that we need to conserve water. . . Her eye twitched with the effort it took to control her expression.

"That's alright," she said quickly, uncomfortable with the silence, "you have, you know, more surface area.". Ben blinked up at her, obviously confused and Rey died a little inside. When they had first started traveling together, they were on very different day/night cycles, but now after almost s week, they had more or less synced up. That meant that it hadn't been a problem that there was only one room to sleep in one the ship, until now. Rey silently cursed that damn shower. She should have kept the water icy cold the whole time if she knew what was good for her. Looking for anything to serve as a distraction, Rey plopped down on the bunk opposite Ben and began fiddling with her hair in the tiny mirror someone had placed on the wall at the head of the sleeping mat. She had just been looking for something to do with her hands, but after a while, she began to get genuinely annoyed. No matter how she started, she always seemed to end up with three buns trailing down the back of her head. That was for the version of herself that had been consumed with the past, who couldn't let go of the hurts of childhood. The future, vast an unknown was hers to do with as she pleased. She didn't want to face her future looking the same as she always had, because she simply wasn't the same person anymore. Closing her eyes, she tried to remember some of the regal hairdos Leia had worn. Trying again she managed. . . three buns and a rather awkward braided crown. She huffed in frustration as she undid her hair, yet again. 

"Come here," said a deep, commanding voice from across the room. 

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bother you, I'll be quiet." Said Rey

"That's not what's bothering me. Come here.". Ben spread his legs wide and patted the mattress between them, indicating where he wanted Rey, who's a mouth at that moment had gone completely dry. Rey walked over to Ben's bunk and sat with her arms wrapped around her knees.

"I couldn't help but notice you were having a hard time, may I give it a try?" Ben spoke quietly behind her. Rey was a little anxious and a little confused, but her curiosity hushed both of those thoughts. 

"Yeah, sure." Said Rey, trying to seem more relaxed than she felt. She heard Ben adjust behind her and then felt his large fingers trailing gently through her hair. Rey closed her eyes and relaxed her posture just a little bit. Of course, someone must have done her hair at some point. Her mother, probably. A long time ago. For whatever faults she may have had, she cared enough to do her daughter's hair. Any meaning her mother had intended in giving her three buns was truly lost now. Was it a clue to her birthday? Planet of origin? A family tradition? Whatever the true meaning was had been lost in the swirling desert of Jakku's scrap heaps. It hurt to think about that, even still. Rey's eyes pricked with tears as she swallowed thickly. 

Ben cleared his throat. "You know I used to 'help' do my mother's hair."

Rey laughed weakly, grateful for the interruption. "Really?"

Ben chuckled. "Yes. Of course, now I realize that she just wanted to spend time with me, to make me feel like I was helping, but at the time I took my responsibilities very seriously."

"Were you any good?"

"I'd like to think so. We'll find out together."

They lapsed into silence again. Rey relaxed further. She dangled one leg over the edge of the bed with her foot tucked under her thigh. Her hands folded delicately in her lap. Ben's hands tugged gently at her hair. One hand held her part of her hair at the back of her head, the other gently brushed up the back of her neck. Rey shivered, just a little bit. Luckily Ben seemed not to notice. Left to her own thoughts, Rey chose to imagine that these gentle touches, this blissful evening, belonged to her alone. Whatever the future held for either of them, no one could take this away from her. 

"On Allderan," Ben's voice was lower now and much closer to her ear, "there were a lot of traditions surrounding how women arranged their hair."

"Oh?" Breathed Rey.

"Oh yes. A woman's hair could tell you a great deal about her. Where she came from, her title, rank, whether or not she was married or engaged."

"And what if she was single?" Rey asked.

"Oh, single girls had the plainest hair of all," Ben said dismissively.

"And why is that?"

"The joke was that they were too busy trying to find a partner, but it was really because they don't have anyone to do it for them," Ben said. Rey could hear the smile in his voice. She wondered if this time it reached his eyes 

"What do you mean? Didn't they do their own hair?"

"Oh no, not on Alderaan. A woman's partner would do her hair. It showed how cherished she was."

Rey closed her eyes. She was afraid to see what Ben was working on, afraid to see something rather plain, and almost more afraid to see something beautiful. 

"A great deal of courtship tradition had to do with a girl's hair.". Ben's hands had stopped their labor and Rey felt the ghost of his touch down the back of her neck. "The more serious the couple became, the more ornate her hair, until the day she-". Rey spun around, interrupting Ben. She was startled to find herself looking directly into his eyes, he'd moved so close to her.

"I wanted to see what you've come up with. I'm just sad I have to take it all down before bed, I'm sure you worked very hard on it.". She rose quickly from the bed and walked over to her mirror.

"Well, uh, actually. . ." Ben started.

Rey looked in the mirror and was relieved to see a relatively simple arrangement of braids on her head. Not at all disappointed, no, she was sure the only thing she felt was relief. It was a very sensible look. Her hair was parted off-center and the braids were coiled loosely at the back of her head. 

"You don't have to take it down for bed. It's meant to be worn overnight. It should make your hair all wavy in the morning." Ben waggled his fingers through the air in an approximation of the waves she could expect in the morning. Looking closely, Rey spotted the telltale redness on his ears peeking through his black hair. There was something he wasn't telling her.

"So what kind of braid is this? What does this look tell the world?"

Ben chewed on his lip. "This look isn't meant to be seen. . ."

"Oh?" Rey was definitely going to get to the bottom of this. 

"It's for uh, when a young lady, err, visits a young man's bed for the...first time."

It was Rey's turn to blush then. 

“Oh. . . oh.” 

Ben rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

“I didn’t have that in mind, per se, when I started. I mean, I knew how I wanted it to look when I started, but then halfway through I remembered what this one meant, and by then I was pretty far along and it looked so nice, and then I thought it was kind of funny, given the circumstances. Not like ‘haha’ funny, more like mildly ironic I suppose? I didn’t think you would press me for an explanation,” Ben straightened up, and clenched his fists at his sides in defiance of his own embarrassment. “And you know what?” He continued on, “I think you would look nice with your hair down. So there.”

Rey blinked at the onslaught of Ben’s words. She cracked a grin.

“Did you just tell, in a very roundabout way, a second joke?”

Ben let out the breath that he had been holding in and smiled lopsidedly. He tucked his hands under his armpits and looked down at his feet, relieved yet guarded. 

Rey looked back at the mirror, tilting her head this way and that, admiring Ben's work.

"You think I would look good with my hair down?"

"Yeah," said Ben in a small voice, "I like to think you would just do it for me, though. . . Like, like when you came on board the Supremacy. I remember you had changed your hair. You looked so soft, but you were so incredibly strong. I like that about you. I like to imagine that's a part of you that only I get to see. . .". Ben looked as though he was trying to fold himself up as small as possible. Rey beamed at him, but he didn't see it.

"I know what it's like, wanting something just for yourself," her voice was soft, but she couldn't disguise the note of excitement from creeping in. "That's how I felt when you were doing my hair. What you were doing was just for me and no one else.". Rey slowly unfolded herself from where she was sitting on the bunk, stepping lightly across to stand close to Ben. Then Rey was treated to a truly rare sight, Ben smiled wide. This time his eyes smiled too.

"I can promise you that I have never done anyone else's hair that way.". He seemed to sway towards Rey, unfolding around her until he was all she could see. "And I promise you, I don't ever want to."

Looking back, Rey couldn't figure out who made the first move. Maybe they both made up their minds at the exact same time. They kissed each other lightly at first and then a little more earnestly. Rey lifted a hand to Ben's chest. He pulled himself back abruptly, causing Rey to snatch her hand back as though she'd been scorched. 

"Is something wrong?" she asked, she could feel a wave of embarrassment growing inside. 

"What? No, I just-" Ben's eyes were dark as he took a deep breath to calm himself, "I just need to know if you really want what we appear to be doing."

"Yes, I do," Rey said plainly, staring back at Ben unflinching. "You have no idea how much I do." She giggled. By way of confirmation, she reached out and took his hands in hers, placed them on her hips and began to walk backwards towards her bunk. She climbed in and patted the empty space next to her where she wanted Ben. 

Ben looked a little anxious climbing into bed next to Rey. He arranged his long limbs carefully so as to not touch her and glanced up at her looking for reassurance. Rey gave it to him by way of another kiss. She propped herself on one elbow and ran her other hand through his hair, feeling how deliciously soft it was.

"Rey?" Ben's voice sounded raspy.

"Yes?"

"Is this alright?"

"Of course it is, I already told you that."

"No, I mean. . . I don't really want to do anything more. Not yet. This is all so much and I. . ." Ben trailed off. He looked frustrated with himself. Rey nodded her head, gently nuzzling his cheek with her nose.

"Of course, of course. . ." She whispered. She reached up and hit a switch, turning off all the lights in the crew cabin. She felt Ben relax underneath her as they were enveloped in darkness. There was nothing more that needed to be said, all further communication consisted of gentle touches, light caressing, and slow, luxurious kisses. Rey completely lost track of time but she guessed it was near midnight when Ben went still in her arms, his breathing slow and deep. She kissed the top of his head and curled herself around him, cradling his head on her shoulder.

It was plain to see that they both had something the other wanted, and she was willing to let Ben set the pace until they got there together. Rey fell asleep dreaming of Ben unbraided her hair on some faraway shore where sunlight danced on the water and sparkled in his smiling eyes.


End file.
